Dropbox automatically create a junk backup folder when editing a file

[Studio C.]

Hello to all.
Every time I open a file (word for example) located in my dropbox, it will automatically create a folder (unwanted), named with the same name as the file, that contains a backup versione of file (unwanted).....so I have to manually delete the folder once made the changes.

Here in the release below, it is visible in both the original file (as.docx) that the junk folder that contains the backup files).

Can someone please explain? 

Thanks in advance to everyone from Italy!

Federico 

[Rich]

Dropbox does not have such a feature. Something else is the cause of it. The only time Dropbox will create a "back up" of a file is if there's some form of conflict (, i.e. two people saving changes to the same file at the same time, etc.), in which case Dropbox will rename a copy of the file to "[File name] - Conflicted Copy".

[Frank-Judge]

I have this problem too. I am using a Mac. It is a pain!!

[Lusil]

Hey @Frank-Judge!

If you’re having trouble with conflicted copies, bear in mind that this can happen when two people change the same file at the same time, where it will save the original file as well as a second version, making sure that one person’s work won’t be overwritten. 

In this case, I’d recommend checking out this article which refers to conflicted copies and how to avoid them, but I’d also kindly suggest checking the Dropbox badge out too. 

Hope this helps, but do let me know if I’ve misunderstood your concern and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks! 

[castilhods]

I am also having the same problem. All the files that I created in Dropbox with my Mac generate a folder with the same name and a backup file.

[Lusil]

Hi there, @castilhods!

Could you please provide me with a bit more info on the matter? What does the title say that shows it’s a copy of a file? How are you uploading these files? 

Any additional details on this so as to have a better understanding of the situation would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks in advance! 

[jennpick01]

Mac Pro/Users/Backup_Folder/Dropbox....inside this folder there are about 12 of my dropbox folders duplicated here.

When I delete them from the backup folder, they do not change in my dropbox online folders so this is definitely a backup. It is randomly choosing folders to back up.

Why does it do this?

Oh, and these aren't "conflicted" folders...those show up differently in my dropbox online list.

[Lusil]

Thanks for getting back to me on this, @jennpick01. 

Initially, please note that the Dropbox app doesn’t backup your content by creating a duplicate in another location on your computer. 

As Rich also proposed earlier on this thread, it could be something else on your device that’s causing this behavior, like a third party app. Could you please check if this could be the case?

If you’re still experiencing some trouble with this, I’d kindly recommend moving this discussion to email, in which case I can contact you directly to the email address associated with your Forum profile. 

Let me know what you find!

[Simon99 · Accepted solution]

Its setting in mircrosoft word.

Go to preferences in Word - Save - turn off create backup.

[st1ac2ey3]

I have a MacBook. I've never had this problem before but suddenly started having backup files created for every file I worked on. The only thing I did differently this week was up change the setting that causes how often Word automatically saves in the background. Apparently when I did that, it must have also changed the setting for "alwasy create backup copy" because that feature is in the same location. If you've done something like that, you may have inadvertently changed a setting like I did. I wouldn't have known to look there without reading this thread. 

In regard to a MacBook, more specifically, go to Word->preferences->save->always create backup copy (make sure it's not selected).